²¹ And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who ^(A)made havoc ^(B)in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(A)how much evil he has done to ^(B)your ^(C)saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from ^(D)the chief priests to bind all who ^(E)call on your name.”

³ But ^(A)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(B)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

^10 (A)when he comes on ^(B)that day ^(C)to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^(D)testimony to you ^(E)was believed.

¹³ For you have heard of ^(A)my former life in Judaism, how ^(B)I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely ^(C)zealous was I for ^(D)the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when he ^(E)who had set me apart ^(F)before I was born,^[a] and who ^(G)called me by his grace, ¹⁶ was pleased to reveal his Son to^[b] me, in order ^(H)that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;^{[c] 17} nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸ Then ^(I)after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James ^(J)the Lord's brother. ²⁰ (In what I am writing to you, ^(K)before God, I do not lie!) ^21 (L)Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was still unknown in person to ^(M)the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they glorified God because of me.

^54 (A)and coming to ^(B)his hometown ^(C)he taught them in their synagogue, so that ^(D)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ^55 (E)Is not this ^(F)the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not ^(G)his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

3 See ^(A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(C)the world does not know us is that ^(D)it did not know him.

The Conversion of Saul

9 But Saul, ^(A)still ^(B)breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to ^(C)the high priest ² and asked him for letters ^(D)to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^(E)the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

^13 (A)Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.